


Architects of Infinity

by Byrcca



Series: Fixed It For Ya! (You Know What You Did/Didn’t Do) [7]
Category: Star Trek: Voyager
Genre: Architects of Infinity, Beyer-verse, F/M, Kirsten Beyer, Voyager Books
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-05-29
Updated: 2018-05-29
Packaged: 2019-05-14 22:48:29
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 417
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14778746
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Byrcca/pseuds/Byrcca
Summary: SPOILERS * SPOILERS * SPOILERS * SPOILERS * SPOILERSA missing scene from the book, Architects of Infinity by Kirsten Beyer. They always let you down in the end, don’t they?





	Architects of Infinity

**Author's Note:**

> I tried to like this book, or at least remain neutral. I honestly had no preconceived hopes, though I still dislike a few of the OCs. I can’t help it. (And I have a giant beef with the most acerbic one) To be even more honest, I’m rather anxiously waiting for one of them to get killed off (a different one). There was one bit that I actually found pretty interesting, though I honestly didn’t give a crap about the situation around which the info was revealed.
> 
> So. I read almost every word of this book, as opposed to the others which I skimmed for the P/T bits. And it was okay. But just okay. I liked the environmental message, but I really don’t think I would have liked the novel as a whole any better if I read the previous 3000 pages in her saga. I didn’t dislike it, but I didn’t like it enough to immediately turn back to page one and reread it. Btw, I live in a large city (from 3-6 mil people, depending on how you define the city boundaries. Our library has 5 copies. I was the first person to read mine, and was able to renew it because it took me a month to get through it. Is this because no one reads Voyager books, or because Voyager readers dislike this series? Hmmm…)
> 
> So, there’s this scene at the end, or rather, a situation lacking a scene. There’s even an intro, but no scene. There’s another scene, which is the classic denouement, but no way to get there, imo. A GREAT GAPING P/T HOLE!!! Sigh… 
> 
> It starts and ends with lines from the book so it can be positioned correctly.

***SPOILERS*SPOILERS*SPOILERS*SPOILERS*SPOILERS*SPOILERS***

 

_Three hours and six minutes after Voyager had broken orbit, Tom Paris called out from the conn, “Eyes forward, I think the floorshow is about to begin.”_

Tom double-tapped his combadge, his eyes shifting from the image of DK-1116 on the viewscreen, to the gold band on the third finger of his left hand. “B’Elanna, it’s Tom,” he said quietly. This conversation was private, and though the bridge held only a skeleton crew, he didn’t want anyone to overhear them. 

She responded immediately. “ _Hey._ ”

He swallowed a sudden lump in his throat. “It’s about to start,” he said. 

“ _I know._ ”

Tom smiled sadly. “I love you.”

“ _I know that, too_ ,” she answered, her voice soft. He heard his son squawk, and B’Elanna hush him. 

“I wish I were with you,” he said. What had they done? How could they have been so reckless to have children while serving on _Voyager_? To think that they could raise them here, in the Delta Quadrant, with its unknowns and its dangers. This wasn’t a grand adventure; it wasn’t some game.

“ _You have bridge duty, Commander. I understand._ ”

That day eight years ago, when they were floating in space—had it only been eight years? It felt like eighty—he should have denied her. Should have rebuffed her. He would have, if he’d known. He heard Michael again, those sweet little sniffles and grunts that new babies made, and felt his heart clench. He felt his eyes tear up. “I’ll be home as soon as I can,” he said, amazed that his voice was even. “Don’t go anywhere.” If he could, he would transport them anywhere, as long as it was away from here. 

“ _Where would I go?_ ” she asked. “ _My entire world is here_.”

He squeezed his eyes shut. “I’ll be home before...before it’s over,” he assured her. If he had to leave to the helm empty, if he had to leave the bridge empty, he wouldn’t care. His duty to the ship was almost over, in a few hours, none of this would matter. It probably didn’t matter now. 

“ _I know you will,_ “ she assured him. “ _We’ll be waiting. We love you, Tom,”_ she said. “ _I love you._ ”

“Until we’re old and gray,” Tom finished for her. 

“ _I think you might be bald before you’re gray, honey,_ ”, she teased. “ _I’ve met your father.”_

Tom laughed. “See you soon.” He cut the channel and looked up.

_The planet on the viewscreen grew brighter._


End file.
